Do (did) you vaccinate your children?

[May]

Both our dds received all their vaccinations except the chicken pox which they had. I would do the same again.

[WeeBeaks]

We selectively vaccinate. We came to the decision in conjunction with our pediatrician. We had a frank discussion of regarding what we thought was absolutely necessary and what wasn't. She was very supportive and shared her knowledge with us of what she personally thought was very important for health to receive and what she thought was frankly drug companies pushing a very profitable product that was not needed at all or not needed until certain ages or under very specific conditions that did not apply to us/our family. So, our infants still get a very much reduced vaccine schedule, some as toddlers, some not until much older and some vaccines not at all.

[Peela]

Partially vaccinated due to dh's wishes. If it was up to me- no vaccines at all.

No vaccines in first two years due to immature immune system and studies from other countries relating most vaccine issues happen in the first vaccines when the baby's system cannot process them. Kids were still breastfed when vaccinated at 2 years. No noticeable reactions at all to vaccines.

No follow up vaccine until age 12 when given limited vaccines and titers to check for immunity- no need for measles mumps rubella vaccine due to sufficient protection from only one dose at age 2. DH insisted on HepB- I wasn't happy about it but got it done. They got tetanus because they spend a lot of time in the bush and around boats with Scouts.

Dh would like dd to get Gardisil- I am strongly against it due to the untested nature of the vaccine, and my understanding that it has been pushed by companies with vested interests, and so it isnt happening because I am the one who takes them to the doctors. He let it go.

[Peela]

 

OP, I know you said no debate, but I can't stand the "we vaxed because we didn't know any better" attitude. It implies that people who vax did not make an informed decision, which is NOT always true.

 

I don't think it does imply that at all. It is just what it says. They didn't understand or know that there were a whole lot of studies and a slew of information linking vaccines with many health issues. That's all. They may have actually ended up vaccinating- after doing the research. But there is a difference between vaccinating because of ignorance as to the issues, as in, "we didnt know any better than to do what we were told and vaccinate", and vaccinating consciously after studying the research.

[Guest]

My daughter is on the autism spectrum with an assortment of mild immune system deficiencies, including but not limited to psoriasis. I vaccinated her completely because she seems to be more at risk from complications of various diseases. We also pursue alternative medicine.

[skaterbabs]

We selectively vaccinate, mostly refusing the offered vaccines. I have issues with knowingly and intentionally forcing known toxins (like formaldehyde) into my children.

 

My sons were fully vaccinated up until a few years ago because, like many other parents, we didn't know there were other options.

 

Many parents believe the benefits outweigh the risks. For our family, we do not believe this to be true. IMO, it's none of my business if you vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate. I just hope that whatever decision you make for your family is one based on facts and research.

[mommaduck]

OP, I know you said no debate, but I can't stand the "we vaxed because we didn't know any better" attitude. It implies that people who vax did not make an informed decision, which is NOT always true.

For THEM it may be true though. THEY may have felt that THEY should have been given more info than they had, rather than a one sided spiel. I'm one of those people with my first child. It wasn't until we nearly lost our first daughter that we realised there was A LOT out there that we should have taken into consideration FIRST, even though we may have chosen to still vaccinate at that time (I don't know what I would have chosen, I was left in the dark that there were real concerns).

[Parrothead]

We had dd vacinated on schedule for her first two years. She hasn't had any since. When we moved, the previous doctor with the records would not release the records without payment even to the new doctor. Since there were no records dd would have had all of the shots all over again. There was no need for it because we homeschool. When she gets older she can get which ever ones she wants.

[ImAhomeSCHOOLmama]

 

OP, I know you said no debate, but I can't stand the "we vaxed because we didn't know any better" attitude. It implies that people who vax did not make an informed decision, which is NOT always true.

 

I think the poster of that comment meant for themselves, not as people in general. The only reason I am waivering on this is I have a cousin who has a friend (I dont know them myself) but their child had a VERY serious reaction, that WILL leave lifelong disability. Now, yes that is extremely rare, and to be honest, had I not hear that I would have not even thought twice about it. I personally do not think they meant anybody who gets vaxed, there are many reasons, health issues included that could make somebody say something like that, though I do think they could have said it a little better. (No offense to the poster of that please!!)

[jplain]

My kids (ages 4 and 6) have not yet been vaccinated. The only one I'm slightly tempted to get at this point is DTaP. Others we'll probably get later. Examples: chicken pox once they're old enough that a wildtype infection would be much higher risk, MMR once they're of childbearing age, polio if we're traveling to an area where it is endemic, etc.

[Orthodox6]

OP, I know you said no debate, but I can't stand the "we vaxed because we didn't know any better" attitude. It implies that people who vax did not make an informed decision, which is NOT always true.

 

I understand why you feel peeved; however, her statement does not imply what you think. As I wrote in my earlier post, when my eldest children were babies, key information about vaccines was not made available to parents, nor were parents informed that such information even existed. Therefore, we did not know any better. One cannot make an informed decision about anything in the absence of information.

 

Also, a parent has to gain experience before realizing that doctors are not people to trust reflexively, without doing ones own homework.

[i.love.lucy]

I understand why you feel peeved; however, her statement does not imply what you think. As I wrote in my earlier post, when my eldest children were babies, key information about vaccines was not made available to parents, nor were parents informed that such information even existed. Therefore, we did not know any better. One cannot make an informed decision about anything in the absence of information.

 

Also, a parent has to gain experience before realizing that doctors are not people to trust reflexively, without doing ones own homework.

 

This is so true. With my first child I was very trusting of our pediatrician. Why shouldn't I be? I was naive. But with age comes experience, and knowing more moms made me more aware of the issues surrounding vax choices and I was able to research more. Someone has probably said this, but in 2010 you can find way more information in which to do the research than you could in 1999 when I was pg. But, not that I was looking because I didn't know I should look.

 

Both my kids are vax'd and I'd still do it again, albeit on a different schedule.

[mcconnellboys]

I did because I didn't know any better at the time. Now, I look long and hard at vaccines, postpone until I feel necessary, spread them out, etc.

 

If I had littles, I'd postpone; spread out; and get single doses, not mult-vaccines in one dose.

 

If I had a strong family history of problems that seem to be related to vaccines, auto-immune problems, etc., then I might not vaccinate at all......

 

And we don't just get every vaccine coming down the pike. We didn't get the big flu vaccine last fall, for instance. None of us were "sick" a single time this past year save for little aggrevating allergy type problems, taken care of quickly by other means. I will definitely not be getting the Gardisil vaccine for my boys......

[Mom2J112903]

J was fully vax'd until 15 months of age-he received *all* his vax's, yeah way too fast and his health showed just how tragic it was.

 

Now that he is 6yrs, he has not and will not receive any more "boosters". When he becomes a grown man, it will be *his* choice wheather or not to continue with our choice.

 

We have no other children and will not, yet we made the choice (before the shop was close due to medical reasons) that no other child of ours would be vaccinated-at all.

[myfatherslily]

I went the opposite direction of many here. Before having kids, I questioned whether I would even vaccinate at all. While pregnant, I started researching. I delayed vax until DD was about 6 months old and held off longer on a couple of them.

When my third child was born, I'd chosen to vax fully following the AAP schedule.

 

It boils down to this: Which risk are you willing to take? The real possibility of a reaction, with most not well documented (i.e. does the unknown scare you or not?). Or the real possibility of the diseases they prevent?

 

It's not an easy decision.

[Dandelion]

My DC are fully vaccinated, but I've chosen to "space out" certain shots so that they didn't get 6 shots on one visit... I've always felt that's too much for little systems to handle all at once.

[Sputterduck]

While in America, my son was vax free.

 

He has had a couple now due to where we are, and he will get at least one more.

[Sputterduck]

I went the opposite direction of many here. Before having kids, I questioned whether I would even vaccinate at all. While pregnant, I started researching. I delayed vax until DD was about 6 months old and held off longer on a couple of them.

When my third child was born, I'd chosen to vax fully following the AAP schedule.

 

It boils down to this: Which risk are you willing to take? The real possibility of a reaction, with most not well documented (i.e. does the unknown scare you or not?). Or the real possibility of the diseases they prevent?

 

It's not an easy decision.

 

I'm willing to take the smallest risk.

 

I found an article on the CDC website when I was researching this that stated that the bad outcomes from vaccinations were now more than the disease cases themselves.

 

That lead me to crunch the numbers. If getting a bad outcome from diseases was a higher probability for my son than getting a bad outcome from the vaccines, he would have been vaccinated. But it was the opposite. So no vaccines.

 

Now we have moved and the numbers have changed. So now he has had some vaccinations.

 

It's simple math. Take the lowest risk.

[mommaduck]

 

It boils down to this: Which risk are you willing to take? The real possibility of a reaction, with most not well documented (i.e. does the unknown scare you or not?). Or the real possibility of the diseases they prevent?

 

It's not an easy decision.

You are right, it is not an easy decision. However, in my case, it was not the "possibility of a reactions, with most not well documented"...it was because we were one of those families that experienced it. And let me tell you, there are many reasons that cases are not well documented if they are documented at all. Our daughter's case was not documented. At the time I did not know about VAERS, but I was made aware that my practitioner would have lost her job if she had reported it. There are plenty of politics in medicine.

[twilkin]

I vaccinate only with the proven vaccines and wait on new ones until they have been out for a while.

[DianeW88]

Mine are all fully vaxed. Working as a pediatric nurse, I saw one too many cases of children with whooping cough, measles and mumps that broke my heart.

 

Are there risks with vaccines? Probably. Are they small? Definitely. Are there certain children that shouldn't receive vaccinations? Yes. It's not a perfect world and that's why we, as parents, should do all the research we can and come to a conclusion that works for our own individual families.

 

What vaccines would I definitely give my kids?

 

Meningitis...hands down, no debate. That disease can kill you in less than 24 hours with minimum of symptoms. I saw a child in our office that came in with a headache and a fever of 99.5....bacterial spinal meningitis. If the mom hadn't already had a well-check scheduled, that child would have died.

 

Hib....again, no debate. This prevents certain types of flu, meningitis and epiglottitus which is another disease that kills suddenly and painfully.

 

MMR...you can delay this one, but measles is no walk in the park. Plan on your child being seriously ill for 14 days with that one. It is on the rise and it does kill children. Mumps is harmless for the most part...although uncomfortable and painful. It can lead to nasty secondary infections and in some cases, cause sterility in men. Rubella is completely harmless for young children, but if you are pregnant and come in contact with a child who has rubella....your baby will be born with severe deformities. Not something I'd want to fool around with.

 

Polio...this is a disease that will haunt you for the rest of your life if you get it. Not only do you risk paralysis with the initial infection, but it never leaves your body and will come back and attack you as "post polio syndrome" after age 50. You will then lose the use of your limbs as you struggle to fight this re-invasion of this horrible disease.

 

Vaccines I have no problem delaying:

 

Hepatitis...all of them. I do advocate getting them, but you don't need to have them as an infant.

 

Chicken pox....this is a toss up for me. My two oldest got chicken pox naturally, because there was no vaccine at the time. The problem with the chicken pox virus is that it also never leaves your system and can come back and attack you as shingles. If you've ever known anyone who has had that....you know how awful that is. It is a herpes virus and it just settles into a set of nerves near your spine and lays dormant until something (stress, immune system weakness, etc) causes it to rear its ugly head again. I've also seen children hospitalized with chicken pox. My youngest got the vax.

 

Gardasil...don't think it's been on the market long enough, and some of the side effects of that one are particularly nasty. I would wait until age 16 or older, unless you know your child is sexually active....or could be.

 

Obviously this is just my opinion and you should definitely talk with your doctor about all vaccinations. Delayed schedules are a very reasonable request, and Dr. Sears has one you can print out on his website. They do give waaaay more vaccines than they even did 10 years ago and more than a couple at a time would give me pause. Not because I think it's an overload on a child's immune system, but because I wouldn't know which one they might have had a reaction to if they did. Also note that redness, a lump at the injection site or a slight fever (less than 101) is NOT considered a bad reaction. It is a sign that the child's immune system is working and doing what it is supposed to do. If you have a reaction that is more severe or persists longer than 48 hours after the shots, then call your ped. Of course call if your child is exhibiting any behavior that you think is unusual. As a precaution, I kept my children in or near the office for at least 15 minutes after the shots were administered. That way if they had an anaphylatic reaction to any ingredients in the vaccine...they would still be at the peds office. Most severe anaphylactic reactions will occur within that time period.

 

Diane W.

married 22 years

homeschooling 3 kids for 16 years

[kmacnchs]

Delayed schedules are a very reasonable request, and Dr. Sears has one you can print out on his website.

 

I thought your post was very insightful and it's great for those not in the medical profession to hear from someone who is (who is not writing in a medical journal) :)

 

My dh (a ped. nurse as well) just came home with a paper/article/whatever about the fallacy of Dr. Sears' delayed schedule. Wondering if you have ever heard about it/these arguments and what you think about it.

 

Again, I'm not in the medical profession but it was something like it is better to get the vaccs. together (some of them) because it builds your immune system/makes it stronger? something like that?

[mommaduck]

My dh (a ped. nurse as well) just came home with a paper/article/whatever about the fallacy of Dr. Sears' delayed schedule.

Where did the paper/article come from?

[DianeW88]

I thought your post was very insightful and it's great for those not in the medical profession to hear from someone who is (who is not writing in a medical journal) :)

 

My dh (a ped. nurse as well) just came home with a paper/article/whatever about the fallacy of Dr. Sears' delayed schedule. Wondering if you have ever heard about it/these arguments and what you think about it.

 

Again, I'm not in the medical profession but it was something like it is better to get the vaccs. together (some of them) because it builds your immune system/makes it stronger? something like that?

 

 

You know, this is such a controversial topic, even among medical professionals, that you will always get dissenting opinions, no matter what you do or say. I would print out his schedule and ask your pediatrician what he thinks.

 

Some of the vaccines are put together in one shot, and it's almost impossible to get them in separate vaccines. My OB tested me for antibodies to rubella when I was planning a pregnancy, because the efficacy of that vaccine can wane with time, and I was found not to have sufficient immunity. He couldn't even get a single shot of rubella, so I just got the MMR vaccine again.

 

You could also look back and get just the recommended shots from about 10-15 years ago for your little ones. That covers all the baddies (whooping cough, Hib, etc.) and leaves out the newer vaccines. My rule with vaccines (as well as drugs) is not to use something that hasn't been on the market for less than five years....unless it's a matter of life and death, of course.

 

Talk it over with your pediatrician. If he brushes you off or won't listen to a delayed vax request.....I would choose another pediatrician.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

 

Diane W.

[cjbeach]

I'm a nurse with a kid who was vax injured so ...nope no more vaxes here. We will someday. Slowly and singularly.

I no longer think the way I once did, that's for certain. I get angry at myself for not researching more, not questioning more, etc...

I get angry when I think I allowed my one hour old son to receive a Hep B vax when we're all negative, for example.

Edited May 10, 2010 by cjbeach

[kmacnchs]

Where did the paper/article come from?

 

Paul A. Offit and Charlotte A. Moser put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics

[Perry]

Paul A. Offit and Charlotte A. Moser put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics

 

The Problem With Dr Bob's Alternative Vaccine Schedule

[cjbeach]

Offit created the rotavirus vax.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/05/dr-paul-offit-q.html

[Cammie]

Fully vaccinated and then some due to living abroad (Jap Enchephalitis, Typhoid). We did delay and space them out a bit (a la Dr. Sears.) We split up the MMR as well. I find that here in India the shots are usually spaced out. The doctor will give 1-2 and then make an appointment in a month for the next one.